Once the fresh faced and supernaturally talented queen of R'n'B pop, two decades of alcohol, crack and
marijuana addiction left her haggard and erratic - with her once powerful
multi-octave voice reduced to a raspy shadow of its former glory.

How do you hit rock bottom when you’ve got an estimated $100
million to insulate you from the consequences of your actions and to fuel
decades of extravagant drug use?

For Whitney, money and fame offered no salvation from her
personal demons, though she tried on multiple occasions to overcome her
addictions and though she endured tabloid mockery after a number of bizarre public
appearances and disappointing performances over the last decade.

Whitney Houston: Battled Years of Addiction

1963 – Whitney Houston is born into a musical family to
singer mother Cissy Houston. She is also cousins with Dionne Warwick and goddaughter
to Aretha Franklin.

1983 - Signed by mentor Clive Davis of Arista Records, who
saw the 20 year old Houston singing at a nightclub and signed her on the spot.

1985 – Releases her first album ‘Whitney Houston’. It
remains the biggest selling debut album by a female artist of all time.

1987 – ‘Whitney” her second album hits the charts and goes
on to sell 25 million records.

1989 – Meets Bobby Brown

1992 – Marries Bobby Brown

1992 – Stars in the movie ‘The Bodyguard’.

1995/1996 – Stars in the movies ‘The Preachers Wife’ and ‘Waiting
to Exhale’. In a 2009 Oprah interview Houston reveals that by the time she is
filming these movies she has become a daily cocaine user.

Jan 11 2000 – Airport security guards find marijuana in her
luggage in Hawaii but her plane leaves before authorities can arrive

2004 – Whitney goes to rehab after Clive Davis threatens to
cut her out of Arista Records if she doesn’t get help

2006 – Photos of Houston’s squalid home bathroom hit the
internet. Pictures full of drug paraphernalia and old beer cans paint a depressing
picture of her drug and alcohol use.

2006 – Whitney again goes to rehab on Davis’s prompting,
spending months in a Pennsylvania residential addiction treatment facility.
After rehab, she works intensely with a sober coach who has her move to LA to
keep her away from using friends and family in New Jersey.

2007 – Whitney divorces Bobby Brown after a 14 year turbulent
marriage characterized by drug use allegations, numerous arrests of Brown and
allegations of spousal abuse.

2009 – Tells Oprah that she has beaten drugs for good.

2009 – Tries a comeback with the release of the album, ‘I Look to You’. The album goes platinum but her comeback tour is criticized for
poor performances and odd stage-behaviors and her numerous tour-date
cancellations fuel rumors that she is once again abusing drugs. She performs
very badly in A Good Morning America concert to promote the album, sounding
raspy and off key and failing to hit high notes.

May 2011 – Whitney enters rehab for the third time

Wednesday, Feb 8 2012 – Whitney checks into the Beverly Hills Hilton.
Witness reports over the next few days have her drinking heavily in the hotel
bar and appearing sweaty and disheveled and smelling of liquor and cigarettes
at a pre Grammy rehearsal.

Saturday, Feb 11 2012 - Houston found dead in a bathtub in her hotel room.
Although toxicology reports will take some time, because she was seen drinking heavily
in the days prior to her death and because she had prescriptions in her room
for drugs like Xanax, experts speculate that she could have passed-out from a
combination of these substances and drowned in the tub or could have overdosed
and died before submerging.

Where would she be today had she gotten help a few years
sooner? Could anyone have saved her back when things weren’t so out of control?

We’ll never know what might have been had she taken steps to
get help before things got so crazy, but we can remember her for what she once was, look to her descent from the
top as a lesson on the costs of addiction and use her tragic end as a chilling reminder of just how dangerous
these substances can be.

Whitney Houston - here's hoping you've found the peace that eluded you in this life and that you are remembered for your gifts and achievements and not for your very human frailties.

Here is some important information for those of you who want to get off Xanax. We encourage you to seek professional help now.

Done wrong, a benzodiazepine detox can turn into months of agony. Done right, by slow taper, it’s very manageable. Read on to learn more about what to expect, how to taper, how to minimize your withdrawal symptoms and how to cope with those you do experience. Read Article